Tom Skerritt, the veteran Hollywood actor known for iconic roles in Alien and Top Gun, has died at the age of 93. His family and publicist confirmed that he died of natural causes on Wednesday.
Across a career spanning 60 years, Skerritt often embodied a solid, wry authority figure. He is remembered for playing the doomed captain in the 1979 film Alien and a tough flight instructor in the 1986 megahit Top Gun. His extensive body of work also included roles in MAS*H and A River Runs Through It.
On television, the moustachioed star won an Emmy award for his portrayal of a hard-working and tough-but-fair sheriff in the series Picket Fences. Regarding his professional identity, Skerritt once shared that a writer had described him as a character actor locked in a leading man’s body, a sentiment he always loved.